Program Details

Why do we call our program "PORTfolio"?

At Virginia Wesleyan College, we think that it is important for our graduates to know how to learn and how to incorporate the liberal arts into their specialties so that when they enter their chosen profession after graduation, they will be flexible enough to adapt as their lives and jobs change. PORTfolio provides a link between the liberal arts curriculum and the world outside the classroom by engaging students. This four-year program can augment any major by providing opportunities for students to apply their knowledge to a variety of experiential opportunities in the Hampton Roads community and beyond. And, in turn, these experiences can be taken back to the classroom for further reflection and discussion.

Because this program is so innovative, we have decided to give it its own name: PORTfolio.

PORTfolio provides an initial "home port" for learning

A community of peers with whom students can undertake collaborative inquiry and the opportunity to work with a faculty that cares about students' intellectual and personal exploration as well as their maturation. PORTfolio signifies the safety of a port. A "port" in nautical terminology means "a place less sheltered than a harbor where ships may ride at anchor." Upon graduation, you will be anchored by a liberal arts education, prepared to set sail into the world of opportunities that await you.

The name PORTfolio also reminds us of the PORT of Hampton Roads

Virginia Wesleyan's campus provides a convenient and safe port in the heart of metropolitan Hampton Roads that is able to draw on our dynamic region as an extended classroom. Thus PORTfolio can help students broaden their horizons. It promises a new kind of partnership between the academic classroom and the community. Community partners - even world partners - will provide opportunities for PORTfolio students to take their classroom knowledge and put it to the test in the Hampton Roads area and beyond through service learning, externships, internships, and study abroad experiences. Students will experience the Hampton Roads community first hand with various experiential learning opportunities for hands-on, active learning.

PORTfolio also refers to another innovative feature of the program: it provides an electronic space for connecting learning in the Electronic Portfolio

During all four years students will document and reflect on their work both inside and outside of the traditional classroom through an electronic portfolio that, upon graduation, will translate into a powerful resume to explain their journey to prospective employers or potential graduate schools. Students who come to Virginia Wesleyan will in the truest sense develop a portfolio of skills, knowledge, and experiences essential to their success as adults, as well as the technical ability to communicate their thoughts on the web.